Device for quenching steel artillery-shells.



T. E. BAILY & E. T. COPE. DEVICE EUR QUENCHING STEEL ARTILLERYHELLS.

v APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14. 191s.

l ,285,583. Patented Nov. 26, 1918.

ra c.

TI-IADDEUS F. BAILY AND FRANK T. COPE, OF ALLIANCE, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE ELECTRIC FURNACE COMPANY, OF ALLIANCE, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

DEVICE FOR QUENCHING STEEL ARTILLERY-SI-IELLKS.

Application filed June 14, 1918.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that we, THADDEUS F.^BAILY and` FRANK T. COPE, citizens of the United States, both residing at Alliance, in the county of lStark and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Device for Quenching Steel Artillery-Shells, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for quenching steel. artillery shells after they have been heat treated during the process of manufacture.

The object of this invention is to construct a device of this class that will vprevent the shell from becoming scarredwhile it is still at a high temperature.

Another object is to provide means for more quickly and uniformly cooling the shell after it has been plunged into the quenching water.

With these objects in view the invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter described illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, size and minor details of Vconstruction may be made within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a sectional view of our quenching device showing a shell in approximately the position it will assume during the quenching process.

Fig. 2'is a top plan view of my device.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3of Fig. i

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

In the manufacture of artillery shells, after the shellhas been formed it is necessary to heat-treat it for the purpose of producing a desired hardness and texture in the steel. This isespecially true in the type of artillery shells known as armor piercing shells. In this type of shells extreme care must be taken to produce exactly the proper texture of steel for the point of the shell. To those skilled in the art it is well known that in the process of heat treating steel, the operation following the heating is known Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented N ov. 26, 19518.

Serial N o. 240,059.

as quenching and consists of taking the steel article that has just been heated to an exact temperature and suddenly plunging it into water, oil or other cooling medium. This quenching must alsobe done accurately so that the proper grain and texture will Ybe produced in the steel article. Various types of devices are now being employed for this quenching process in the manufacture of be more or less softened and the impact .Y y

occasioned by the contact lwith the' carrier` frequently mars the armor\-fpiercing Lpoint and renders the shell unlit for use.

In our invention we have constructed a cylindrical tank shown at l, the lowerportion of which is reduced as at 2. Entering the -reduced portion 2 at a point near the bottom thereof is a pair of inlet pipes-4 which enter the cylinder as shownrin Fig. 3. l Extending inwardly from the upper portion of the cylinder are fins or vanes .5 which are. tapered at their upper ends as shown and leave an open space at. the center of the cylinder only a verylittle bit greater in diameter than" the diameter of the shells to be used with the device.

Through the inlet pipes 4 will be forced water under high pressure and by reason of the location and arrangement of the said inlet pipes it is obvious that the water entering the cylinder will beginy to swirl. The high pressure of the water will cause it to rise rapidly within the cylinder. \When the water has begun to overow the top of the cylinder the devicev is ready for the shell to be dropped for the quenching process. The' shell entering the upper end of the cylinder point downward as shown lin the drawings will meet the current of waterirushing up-` .ward through the cylinder which causes the speed of Vitsptravel to be materially checked so that it moves downward toward the position shown in F ig. \1 slowly. It will now be noted by reference tothe drawings that the diameter of the reduced portion of the cylameter of the shell. -It will thus be seen that when the shell reaches the position shown in Fig. 1, it will have virtually closed the out- -let passage for the water and as previously l pointed out the l lin the cylinder and reaching again the point shown in Fig. l prevents the escape' of the water and thus increases the pressure in the lower part of the cylinder. It is thus seen that'this action will virtually keep the shell'.

suspended in the water, the vanes 5 meanwhile preventing the shell from tilting out of vertical position. The high pressure of the water passing in through the pipes 4 will cause a large volume ofvwater to rush upward through the cylinder and past the shell. It will thus be seen that the shell will be morequickly and thoroughly quenched than would be the case where the ty e of devices using the spray quench are emp oyed.

If, for any reason the water pressureventering through the pipes 4 should fail, in order that the shell if not sufficiently cooled shall not drop to the bottom of. the cylinder and thus become marred, we secure in the bottom at the exact center of the cylinder a heavy cushioning spring 6, which will serve to catch the shell and break its fall.'

' While the operation offour device def.-

scribes the usel of water asua coolingv medium it is obvious that oil, brine "br any other -well known cooling medium could be employed in the same manner. l 1 Having fully.-described our invention what we claim .as-I new and desire to secure byY Letters Patent, is:

l. In a shell quenching device, a cylinder spring secured to the of slightly larger diameter than the shelljto be quenched, water'ilets adjacent the bottom of said cylinder and designed to admit water to the said cylinder under suiciently high pressure toprevent the said shell from reaching the bottom of said cylinder.

2. In a shell quenching device, a cylinder having a reduced lower portion, the said reduced portion being slightly larger in diameter than the shell to be quenched, water' inlets adjacent the bottom of said cylinder and designed to admit Water under highv pressure, the water entering said pipes bebottom of said reduced portion and designed to admit water under pressure sufficiently great to prevent the said shell from reaching the bottom of the cylinder and vanes arranged about the interior of the said .cylinder adjacent its lupper end and designed to hold the said shell in vertical position and a j bottom of the said cylinder and designed to catch thersaid shell should the water pressure fail.

4. In a shell quenching device, a cylinder adapted Ato have dropped therein a shell to be quenched, inlets adjacent the bottom of said cylinder adapted to admita cooling medium at sutliciently high pressure to'prevent a shell dropped into the cylinder from reaching the bottom of said cylinder.

In testimony that We claim the above, we

have hereunto subscribedour names.

THADDEUS F. BAILY,A FRANK'T. COPE. 

